The construction of the Cross River Rail underground station at Albert Street has reached a major milestone as they near completion of the first new train station in Brisbane’s CBD in more than 120 years.
Crews have made incredible progress underground, completing the mezzanine level – where people will take the final escalators down onto the station platform – and the platform itself.
Both milestones represent significant feats of engineering:
• The mezzanine level is made up of 183 pre-cast concrete beams, each up to 19 metres wide and weighing up to 70 tonnes
• The 220-metre-long platform is made up of 368 precast culverts, each weighing 6.5 tonnes.
Every single piece of the station had to be lowered into the cavern down a 31-metre-deep access shaft.
Escalators are due to arrive on site and preparation works are underway for tracks to be laid in the station cavern over the coming months.
While tracks are being laid, crews will also start installing platform screen doors.
Quotes attributed to Deputy Premier, Treasurer and Minister for Trade and Investment Cameron Dick:
“The Queensland Labor Government promised to build the Cross River Rail and we are delivering it.
“Cross River Rail is a critical piece of infrastructure that will redefine how people not only travel in Brisbane but live in this amazing city.
“By 2036 more than 67,000 people will travel through the Albert Street Station each day, as it becomes the main pedestrian feeder point for QUT’s Gardens Point campus, the parliamentary precinct, Queen’s Wharf, theupgraded Eagle Street business district and the City Botanic Gardens.”
Quotes attributed to Minister for State Development and Infrastructure, Minister for Industrial Relations and Minister for Racing Grace Grace:
“Cross River Rail is a transformative project, one that is set to change how we move throughout our great city.
“Seeing this huge piece of transport infrastructure up close is very exciting and gives a real sense of its magnitude and importance.
“It will make it easier to get into the city for work or study, or to enjoy shopping and dining options, including at Queen’s Wharf.
“Albert Street station will be a new centre point in the middle of the CBD – a vibrant transport hub where people will meet and gather, breathing new life into the heart of the city.
“As someone who has lived in central Brisbane all my life, I can appreciate the changes this will bring, making the city more accessible for everyone”.
Quotes attributed to Transport and Main Roads Minister Bart Mellish:
“Most people going about their business in the CBD would have absolutely no idea about the extraordinaryconstruction effort underway right beneath their feet.
“The completion of the mezzanine and platform levels below ground mean this new station in the heart of the CBD is another step closer.
“With tracks, escalators and platform screen doors soon to come, what was once a massive empty cavern below ground is looking more and more like a world-class train station each day.
“The works beneath our busy CBD streets are seriously impressive, and I thank the more than 545 workers at Cross River Rail’s Albert Street sites for their tremendous efforts in bringing the first station to be built in Brisbane’s CBD in more than 120 years to life.
“The new Albert Street station will transform how we get in and out of the CBD.
Albert Street cavern fast facts:
• Albert Street cavern is 290-metres long, up to 34 metres underground, and generated about 83,000 cubic metres of spoil to excavate.
• The cavern’s permanent lining is made up of around 17,738 cubic metres of concrete, about 2,977 tonnes of steel and 12,816 square metres of waterproofing membrane.
• The mezzanine level – about 25 metres below street level – is made up of 183 concrete beams, each weighing up to 70 tonnes.
• The 220-metre-long platform is about 31 metres below ground and made up of 368 6.5 tonne culverts.
• While the platforms will be within the station cavern, crews are also constructing a 50-metre deep station entrance and a second 28-metre deep northern entrance.
